Galway Advertiser 1991/1991_07_11/GA_11071991_E1_016.pdf 

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Rated as one of the world's top harmonica players, Don Baker is also an accomplished singer/songwriter. He talks to Mary O'Connor about the Blues, how he beat the demon drink and battled back from the edge to become a top musician.

BAKER SINGS THE BLUES
"He can make it talk. The harmonica."
The elegant woman with the Dior shades and powder pink dress nudges her friend. "Look at h i m " . Both gaze admiringly at Don Baker on stage. He is a dim and dashing figure in the distance, in an expensively tailored black suit with a gold watch, bracelet and neck chain. He whispers this song is for the woman in red. The powder pink woman smoothes down her John Bentley dress and wonders if could be her. Maybe he is colour blind... Maybe he is talking about so meone else.... She was one of thousands who flocked to Salthill to see Don Baker play at the Salthill Festival. He plays regularly at C.J.'s and has a tremendous following. Mention the name Don Baker anywhere in Europe or indeed America and people will im mediately nod in recognition. He is highly regarded not just as one of the world's top harmonica players but also as a fine Blues singer and songwriter. His two albums "Born With The Blues" and "Almost Illegal" went gold in Ireland. The former is on release in Holland, Germany and Scandinavia and will be released in Japan and England later this year. His second tutorial book is following in the suc cess of his first which sold over 100,000 copies worldwide and was translated into seven different languages.
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The only way people can change is on a spiritual level, he says. Mental and spiritual growth are linked. "I never knew this spiritual part of me existed. I was spiritually dead before this. It has helped me to cope. "There is a child, adult and parent in each of us. Sometimes the child in us is sad. We have to become our own parent and lead ourselves out of the darkness." He has an addictive personality and does everything to excess, he maintains. But all excesses are apparently behind him now. He is submerg ing himself in nothing more dangerous than hard work and exercise today. Don has no burning ambition and lives for the present. "I've almost everything I want. I don't want a Rolls Royce or property or a swimming pool. " I just want peace of mind. And to send my five kids to college."

DESIGNER SHADES

Alcohol is a remover. It removes your family, friends, health and dignity.
His offences? He pauses and adds gently, " I won't talk about them." heavily tattooed and he wears a little gold jewellery well. He is a fighter and has shown true grit in the face of personal adversity. He talks about the hid den demon is his golden success story. The demon drink. And his courageous fight to overcome his dependence. He drank consistently since he was 16. " I couldn't stop drinking. I never knew I had a problem. Alcoholics are like that. They are the last to know." His health was deteriorating rapidly but he couldn't break the destructive cycle. His wife, Jo, persuaded him to seek help in 1984.

FIRST HARMONICA
He was born in Whitehall, Dublin, the eldest of a family of five, three girls and two boys. His backround was not musical. "My father played the keyboards but music didn't play a big part in my early years." He became interested in the harmonica while he was in hospital suffering from T.B. His mother bought him his first harmonica when he was seven. He is not a natural musician. Drawing on a cigarette, he says quietly; " I had to try hard. After I had been playing for twelve to fourteen years, it got easier." He never took music lessons or played in the school band. But he played Gaelic football. He was always a bit of a renegade, he admits. Don had a flair for kicking against tameness. By the time he was thirteen, he had left school, fallen foul of the law and was headed for reformatory school in Dangan. He spent two "terrible, terri ble" years there. " I was a juvenile delinquent. I spent five years in jail."

LIFTED GLOOM
But while he was behind bars, he turned to music. It was a way of expressing himself and of lifting the gloom as he waited for freedom. " I turned professional in prison. I was very popular. The prisoners paid me cigarettes." There is a flicker of a smile. He walked free at 19 and later joined the army. But they refused to let him join the band - they didn't have harmonica- so he headed for Germany and a career in music. "Prison did not reform me. It made me worse. But I was lucky. I knew I wanted to be a musi cian. I changed myself. I haven't looked back since." He busked around Europe and had a wonderful time. " I was young, wild and free. I played solo for a few years. I was trying to make the grade as a ragtime guitar player." Then he teamed up with Johnny Norris, a Stillorgan blues guitarist. Europe beckoned again and the twosome set off in search of fame and for tune. They spent eight years touring. Don began songwriting in 1979. His composi tion "Dublin's Innercity" was a hit for the Jolly Beggermen. He formed his first band. The Business in 1983. They toured extensively. But by 1986 he wanted a new challenge and left to form his present band.

He has three wives and five children, he says. "You don't believe me, do you? he asks amused, blue eyes glinting."I do, I d o , " I protest furious ly. He did say he does everything to excess! His classy style - black suits and designer shades - set him apart from other performers. "I have a healthy respect for myself. When I dress well, I feel better. There's nothing to spend my money on, only clothes." Don Baker is due on stage in five minutes. His tea cup is empty and the pot is cold. Time for one more question. His motto? "I don't know the answers, but I know Someone who does." The eyes smile and he rushes towards the sea of faces to sing the blues.

GIVING UP DRINK
"Alcohol is a remover. It removes your fami Don Baker and his Band play C.J.'s in ly, friends, health and dignity. It takes time to get Salthill in September. The date has yet to be them back. It is a long, uphill struggle. " T o give up drink is the easiest thing in the finalised. world. To stay off it is the big battle." Drink stops you maturing, he says. It traps you in a time warp. "When I stopped drinking, it was as if I were still 16. I had buried my emotions for so long in a glass. It was very hard to face them when they came to the surface." The prospect of getting to know his sober self terrified Don Baker. "It was hard to look in the mirror. I had to ad mit I didn't like myself and had to stop blaming myself and others for my tattered life. You never grow while you blame. "Life is about change. If you don't like yourself, you must change. I'm trying to love and improve myself so I won't have to seek approval from anyone. Like I do now." The compulsion to drink went away after two years, he says quietly. But living one day at a time is not easy.

FRIENDLY AFFAIR
Don Baker and his rock, rhythm and blues band have just recorded a live album which will be released in February. He has no music heroes and says he has always done his own thing. Tea in a softly lit comer of the Eglington Hotel in Salthill is a friendly and fascinating affair. The 40 year-old Dubliner is warm, charming and smiles a lot with his eyes. He has movie star looks and dresses with great panache. His right arm is

RECOGNISES SPIRITUALITY
" I ' v e had problems trying to keep everything in the now. The natural thing is to project, to look forward.

7 was always a bit of a renegade!'

"I have

a healthy for myself'.'

respect